PRESBYTERIAN PAN AMERICAN SCHOOL

PRESBYTERIAN PAN AMERICAN SCHOOL. The Presbyterian Pan American School, in Kingsville, became the successor of the Texas Mexican Industrial Institute and the Presbyterian School for Mexican Girls following a decision to merge the two schools. At its 100th meeting in Waco in 1955, the Synod of Texas took action to establish and operate a Presbyterian Pan American School to meet the highest educational standards and be thoroughly Christian, international, and coeducational. In September 1957 the Taft campus of the Presbyterian School for Mexican Girls closed, and a coeducational program began at Kingsville. During the early years of the new school the synod owned, controlled, and provided the operating budget for the mission school. High school and limited college programs were offered for students fourteen and older who applied through their local Presbyterian churches. Admission to the college department was by faculty nomination only. In addition to a college-preparatory high school department, an intensive English department operated primarily in the summer sessions to enable foreign students to take regular courses. The school sought to prepare students to finish college and enter teaching, ministerial, missionary, medical, and legal professions. All students lived on the Kingsville campus in dormitories, which accommodated sixty boys and fifty-four girls. Other facilities on the 670-acre campus included a chapel, a classroom building, an office building, a library, a swimming pool, and athletic fields. Total enrollment during 1965–66 was 114 students. In 1972 the faculty numbered thirteen and the enrollment was 110.

Sherwood H. Reisner served as school president from 1956 until 1980. Toward the end of his administration the school added a new science building, a gymnasium, and tennis courts to the campus facilities. In 1979 ownership of the school was transferred from the Synod of Red River to the board of trustees. David R. Gifford succeeded S. H. Reisner as president in 1980. During Gifford's tenure the school established an office of development with Sherwood Reisner as the first director. Increased funding was needed to repair damages to the campus caused by Hurricane Allen in 1980 and to respond to the increased need for scholarships caused by rapid devaluation of the Mexican peso in 1982. The school introduced a day department for students from the Kingsville area in the fall of 1983. In 1987 it was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As of 1994 Abraham Torres was president. The school is governed by a board of trustees whose members are elected by the Synod of the Sun (Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.), by the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, and by the board itself. It has a five-year covenant relationship with the Synod of the Sun, PCUSA. The Synod contributed approximately 7 percent of operating income to the school in 1987–88. Expected enrollment during the 1994–95 school year was 120, including mostly boarding students and some day students. The student body represented seven different nations, although most were from Mexico.

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